Stamps of Life - Mittens2Stamp

Hello fellow paper crafters!  It's the last day of November and I wanted to share with you a few more cards that I made using this month's stamp and die set (Mittens2Stamp and Mitten Dies) from The Stamps of Life.  Tomorrow starts a brand new set, so I'm looking forward to what they surprise us with for the month of December!

For my first card, I used the Sizzix Triple Square Flip-its Card Die Set for my base.  I then added some beautiful patterned paper from the Stamps of Life Happy Holidays Collection.  Next, I stamped some tiny mittens from November's Mittens2Stamp Club Stamp Set and used my Copics to color them.  I used the smallest snowflake from the Soup4Snowman stamp set and embossed it on each mitten with super fine detail white embossing powder.  After die cutting these mittens using the coordinating dies, I adhered one to each center square portion of my card with 3D foam squares.   

I then stamped and slightly colored my snowman using the Snowman2Build stamp set.  I used the coordinating dies to cut him out and also cut a scarf from white cardstock.  I then colored his scarf with Copics and used the same small snowflake to add a "winter" pattern to his scarf by heat embossing with the white embossing powder once again.  I stamped, cut and colored his cute little Santa hat using the Hats4Critters stamp set and coordinating dies.  Lastly I heat embossed the sentiment from the Mittens2Stamp stamp set and added some deep red twine for embellishment.

For this next card, I used the same mitten stamps and dies as listed above.  For my base, I used the newly released Sizzix Circle Stand Up Die Set.  I tried to keep this card simple and have the mittens be the main focus in the center of the card.  For the mittens, I die cut them from white cardstock and used my copics to color them.  I added a white embossed snowflake from the same stamp set to each mitten.  I then used a white gel pen to add some detailed lines on the cuffs of the mittens.  I used both the Sizzix Circles, Dotted Framelits Die Set and the Sizzix Circles, Scallop Framelits Die Set to cut some decorative circles to place behind the mittens.  The Holly & Ivy came from the Sizzix Merry Christmas 3-D Drop-ins Sentiments Die Set.  Lastly, I stamped the sentiment with black waterproof ink and added a red ribbon for embellishment.

Lastly, I went for a more non-traditional Christmas card.  Once again, I used the same mitten stamps and dies as listed above.  I colored my mittens with some Copics and diecut a piece of white felt for each mitten cuff.  The base of the card is actually no longer in production.  It's called the Fancy Edge Flip-its Die Set and it was exclusive to The Stamps of Life a few years ago.  I was lucky enough to find one on eBay a few months back!

I added some more ivy leaves (same as above) and some pearls for the berries.  For the sentiment, I diecut some ovals on solid cardstock using both the Stitched Oval Dies and Oval Dies exclusive to The Stamps of Life.  I then heat embossed my sentiment on the top oval and attached it all to my card with some 3D foam squares.  Lastly, I added a few snowflakes from the Sizzix Merry Christmas 3D Drop-ins Sentiments Die Set and placed a sparkly snowflake from the Pretty Pink Posh Snowflake Sequins Mix.    

I will be playing along and sending these off to the following challenges:

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #119 "Winter"

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #222 "Make Your Mark"

Thank you all for dropping by!  If you liked this card and want some more crafty inspiration, don't forget to check out my INSTAGRAM feed!

Wishing you all a lovely day!

♥ Rachel

Pretty Pink Posh - Winter Wonderland

Hello!  I'm sure that most of you are making final preparations for Thanksgiving or possibly traveling.  I love this time of the year.  It's actually bittersweet since I don't get to visit with my family during the holidays much anymore since they live so far away.  But I have greatly enjoyed making new family traditions and memories with my own small children.

I'd like to share a little holiday/winter card that I created using some adorable stamps by Pretty Pink Posh.  For this card, I used the Winter Wonderland stamp set and coordinating dies.  I also used the Pretty Pink Posh Holiday Pals stamp set to create the little stack of gifts on the sled.

To begin, I first created a snowy background by blending broken china and mermaid lagoon distress inks onto a piece of smooth white cardstock.  I then spritz it with perfect pearls "pearl" pigment powder that I had mixed with some water inside of a small spray/mister bottle.  Lastly, I splattered some opaque white paint over this panel to create a "snowing" effect.

To create my snowy trees, I used the Birch Tree Window Die by Simon Says Stamp and die cut it twice (one right next to the other) on some Kraft cardstock.  I then splattered some more white paint onto this panel to once again resemble snow.  I absolutely love this die by Simon Says Stamp.  It's perfect for any time of the year.  I decided to add some "snow" on my trees by using my snow marker.  This marker is pretty cool.  You simply "draw" the areas that you want snow and then heat emboss it.  It then puffs up and creates a really neat effect.  I then added a little bit of dimension to my trees by coloring in some shadows with a brown copic marker.

I wanted to make this a shaker card, so I simply added some thin strips of 3D foam tape around the base of my card (the blue panel that I had ink blended) and added some 3mm clear sparkling sequins and Marshmallow Seed Beads both by Pretty Pink Posh.  After adding a piece of clear acetate behind my tree panel, I then placed the trees on top of the 3D foam tape to secure it in place.

I then added a "snow drift" using the Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Border Dies.  Next, I diecut a white frame from white cardstock using the Die-namics Single Stitch Line Rectangle Frames by My Favorite Things.

Lastly, I heat set my sentiment (using an exclusive holiday set of stamps by Pretty Pink Posh) onto clear vellum with silver embossing powder.  I mounted the card onto some silver sparkle cardstock and added a few Pretty Pink Posh Snowflake Sequins with some clear droplets for embellishment.

I will be playing along and sending this off to the the following challenges.

Simon Says "Christmas To Die For" Wednesday Challenge

Let's Craft and Create Challenge #119 "Winter"

Addicted To Stamps and More Challenge #221 "Anything Goes"

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!  I love hearing from you!  Feel free to leave any comments or questions.  Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Rachel
  

Pretty Pink Posh - Giving Thanks

I just love this cute little "Giving Thanks" stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh.  The little "pilgrims" just make the set so much fun!

I decided to use this set to create a 3D box card.  If you've never made a box card, they're surprisingly easy.  I usually refer to this tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers on how to create the base (or box) itself.
Once my base was finished, I simply trimmed some dark brown cardstock to fit on the flaps and sides of my box.  I used some leaf patterned paper from the Stamps of Life, "Dream Collection".

I then cut some "grass" on white cardstock using the taller grassy fields die by My Favorite Things.  Once cut, I colored the pieces green using my Copics.  I then added some pumpkins inside the box to create the look of a pumpkin patch.

 
For all of these images, I stamped them using the "Giving Thanks" stamp set by Pretty Pink Posh and die cut them with their coordinating dies.  I used super fine detail white embossing powder to heat emboss my sentiment on the front of the box.  Lastly, I added a few 3mm clear sparkling sequins on the side flaps to add some embellishment.

I will be sending this card off to the "Thanks/Thanksgiving" Simon Says Monday Challenge.

Thanks/Thanksgiving

Thanks so much for visiting my blog today!  I love to hear from you!  Feel free to leave me any comments or questions!

Rachel

Stamps of Life Mittens

Hello fellow paper crafters!  It's hard to believe that we're halfway through November already!  This month's new stamp club set at the Stamps of Life is called mittens2stamp.  At first glance, this set may look solely like it's meant for Christmas (which it is PERFECT for Christmas) but I also found it to be so versatile.  For my first two cards, I went a different direction.  I thought that these cute little mittens would be perfect for Baby Shower cards (or really any type of card for baby).

For all of my cards today, I used only the Mitten Dies to create my look.  There was no coloring.  I did use a few stamps for my sentiments, but that was the extent of it.  Pretty simple!

For my first card, I trimmed a few pieces of cardstock (both solid and patterned) and then dry embossed my white cardstock panel with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  For my scalloped border, I die cut some dark brown cardstock using the Die-namics Stitched Mini Scallop Rectangles die set by My Favorite Things.  I added a cute little rubber duck and a baby bottle using the Sizzix Triplits Oh, Baby die set.  I absolutely LOVE this set!  Lastly, I added the word "Baby" using the Onesie4baby stamp set, also by The Stamps of Life.  After stamping this sentiment, I cut each letter out individually so that I could angle them on my card like baby blocks.

For my next card, I once again trimmed a few pieces of cardstock and again dry embossed my white cardstock panel with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  On top of that piece, I placed two circles.  One cut on dark brown cardstock using the Sizzix Circles, Scallop Framelits Die Set and the other on white cardstock using the Stitched Circle Dies exclusive to The Stamps of Life.  The patterned paper that I used is from the Stamps of Life Forever Colletion.

Lastly, I used the mitten dies to create a Christmas card.  I once again used the Stitched Circle Dies from The Stamps of Life.  I embossed some silver snowflakes on the mitten cuffs using a cute snowflake from the Stamps of Life Soup4snowman stamp set.  Lastly, I embossed my sentiment with the same silver embossing powder and the Merry Christmas sentiment from the Stamps of Life Santa2stamp stamp set.

I will be sharing my Christmas card and playing along with this week's photo inspiration challenge over at Addicted To Stamps and More.

Addicted To Stamps and More Photo Inspiration Challenge

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today!  I love to hear from you!  Feel free to leave any comments or questions!

Rachel

"Best Wishes" Wedding Card

Hello!  I would like to share with you today a wedding card that I made for my cousin and his beautiful bride.  I have to admit, I get pretty nervous when I have to make a wedding card.  I was tempted to go out an buy one but my goal (when I first started making cards) was to never have to buy a store-bought card again.  So, with that in mind, I took a deep breath and gave it a shot.  A few weeks ago, I signed up for an online class with Altenew Academy.  It was all about ink blending techniques and I learned a lot!  Our instructor, Amy, did an example of a shaker card with ink blending and using a background die to cover it.  I loved her idea and it was from her card that I got my inspiration for this wedding card.

For my ink blended background, I used the three darkest inks from Altenew's Red Cosmos Mini Ink Cube Set.  I added some Sparkling Clear Sequins by Pretty Pink Posh and sealed my ink blended panel and the sequins in a stamp storage pocket that was cut and folded to fit inside my card.  This made it less bulky than using 3D foam tape for the shaker portion.  I then diecut a floral background panel using the Thinlits Flower Power Background Die created by Stephanie Barnard for Sizzix.  I placed this over top of my shaker portion and did use some thin foam tape to hold this down in the area above and below the part of the background die that is showing in the card.  I then adhered two panels of white cardstock on top of the floral background die that was not over the shaker portion of the card.  For the top panel, I die cut it using a Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Scallop Border Die.  For the bottom panel, I dry embossed it with a swirl embossing folder and cut it to size.

Once these two panels were attached, I added some red ribbon around the center of the card.  I then used the Die-namics Stitched Fancy Flourish by My Favorite Things and die cut it 5 times using deep red cardstock.  I glued each of these pieces together and glued part of it under the red ribbon and the rest onto the card face.  On top of that I cut some beautiful stitched flowers and leaves using the Die-namics Stitched Flowers and Die-namics Royal Leaves also by My Favorite Things.

Lastly, I added some small clear droplets by Pretty Pink Posh for some simple but beautiful embellishment.

I will be entering this card and playing along at the Addicted To Stamps and More "CAS" Challenge #219.

"CAS" Challenge #219

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!  I love to hear from you! Feel free to leave any comments or questions!

Have a great day!

Rachel

Altenew Oriental Orchid

Hello!  I have been wanting to make a card using Altenew's Oriental Orchid Stamp Set for a while now.  This stamp set is so beautiful!  I love orchids.  They are some of the most beautiful flowers (but somewhat difficult for me to keep alive, lol).  I definitely don't have a "green thumb" so at least I can enjoy any cards or pictures that I make using this stamp set without any worry ;0)

I started off by drawing some light pencil lines for my stems on a piece of white cardstock.  This gave me reference on where to stamp my images.  I love the color-layering stamps from Altenew.  It makes it pretty easy to get an authentic looking flower without a lot of hassle.  I began stamping my flower base-layers in Altenew's Rose Quartz Crips Dye Ink.  I then followed that with the second layer.  I wanted a large contrast between the two, so I went with the Guava Ink by Stephanie Barnard at the Stamps of Life.  Let me tell you, this ink is PINK!  It is so rich in color.  I actually used a Dark Pink Zig Clean Color Brush to stamp and somewhat paint on the third layer.  For my final layer (the flower outline) I heat embossed it with Superfine White Embossing Powder. I then masked a few of my flowers to both stamp and draw the flower stem to look like the stem was behind the flowers.

For my card background, I colored it with my Copics in B000 and B00.  However, about halfway through doing this, my marker started to run dry!  I did the best I could since I did not have a refill on hand.  I was not extremely happy with my blending, so I covered the background with a clear layer of glitter with my Wink of Stella Brush Marker.

For my sentiment, I heat embossed the "thinking of you" with Superfine Gold Embossing Powder on a strip of vellum.  I die cut the word "hello" 4-5x's on white cardstock (except for the final layer) and then glued them together for added dimension. I then die cut the top layer cut from glitter white paper for some added shimmer.  Both the "hello" die cut and the sentiment came from the Hero Arts "Hello" Stamp with Matching Die Cut Set.  For some light embellishment, I added a few 4mm Clear Droplets  by Pretty Pink Posh.  Lastly, I added a thin piece of gold glitter tape and mounted my card front on a top-folding A2 size piece of shimmer white cardstock.

I will be entering this card and playing along at both the Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog.  The theme for both challenges this week is "Thinking of You".

Simon Says Monday Challenge

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

Thank you for visiting my blog today!  I love to hear from you.  Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments!